O.K. Here it goes. I think that even after 100+ jumps I want to venture in the direction of becoming an instructor. I think that I would like to eventually become an AFF JM but I think that a coach would be the best place to start. What should I do to gain the best experience before I get to 500. Thanks

Well, obviously the first thing to do is to get a bunch of experience. RW is probably the best way to go here since all the head down stuff in the world isn't going to help you out much when it comes to getting your AFF rating.

Skydive U puts out a a pretty good course for coaches, but it's kind of expensive. HOWEVER, you can get a sneek peek on what they're looking for in the way of qualifications by going to; http://www.skydiveu.com/pretask.htm

That's actually a pretty tall order when you consider you'll need to find a couple of other people to do the drills AND you have to get it on video!

What prompted the 500 number? For an AFF JM, you just need 6 hours of freefall time.. Most belly fliers could get that in 330-350 jumps.. It's not too common, in my experience, to see AFF JM's with that few jumps, though.. 500 is the number of jumps(on a ram-air) required for a Tandem Instructor.. 500 jumps and 3 years in sport..

Jump with everybody you can, of all experience levels.. Jumping with experienced people will help you to fine tune your flying.. Jumping with newbies will really help hone your flying skills.. Learn to freefly.. Even if it's not something you're really interested in, it makes a well rounded instructor that can fly in any required body position to get the job done..

If there are some Coaches in your area, jump with them to see if they think your flying is up to par for the Coach course.. Skydive U coaches are held to basically the same standards, they could tell you the same thing.. That's where I'm at right now - preparing to go to a Coach course sometime in the next 6 months.. Good luck..

In my experience (20 years worth), there has to be a definite proactive means to each skydive. Levelidity drills are very important. You absolutely must be able to control your distance from another person. Formation skydiving really helps with that. Another thing that really helped me early on was jumping a camera. Video work really forces you to be in the right place. If you are not, then the video sucks. Most good video guys have cat-like reflexes and are dead on the money, no matter what they are filming. The ones that chose to do so end up making very good coaches and Instructors as they are conditioned to react to others' movements. Filming freestyle and skysurfing offers the most challenges because of the constant fall-rate changes. Maybe start by "shadowing" a video man. Besides that, good old-fashioned 2-way drills with another experienced jumper will get you ready to deal with those students who are commonly all over the sky.

Mr. Mike Farmer was the JM who graduated me off of student status and one of the best friends and JM's I've ever had. Now that I have my own JM rating, he has been nothing but a source of great advice.

Now... here's my advice:

Always try to keep perspective and remember what it was like when you had very little experience. I used to think that the guys at my DZ with 100-200 jumps were like Michael Jordan. Now that I'm there with the same amount of jumps I realize that I still don't know a damn thing but I know how to keep others safe and I know how to ask for help when I need it.

Keep your head screwed on tight, swallow your pride when you need to, admit that you're not perfect but try to be through constant learning, never show your own fear to your students, ALWAYS err on the side of safety and you'll be fine.

Mr. Mike Farmer was the JM who graduated me off of student status and one of the best friends and JM's I've ever had. Now that I have my own JM rating, he has been nothing but a source of great advice.

Holy shit, Kris! Thats the sweetest thing you've ever said to me, (If you don't count that time in the FrankenOtter after everyone was asleep, DOH!)

In all seriousness, thanks Kris! As for anyone reading this, HE's LYING!!! I am one major Ass-hole! I mean c'mon, I got a rep to protect! Anyway, the torch has been passed to the next generation of JM at OSC. I couldn't feel more confident about the guys coming out of the last JCC! Kris, Larry you guys are the Shizzznit!!

In other News: I am happy to report that Larry C. JM 01, has successfully earned TIKI FREAK # 2. The nature of the Tiki #'s is such that I cannot divulge how this honor was earned, but let's just say that it wasn't easy! (Let's also say that everyone involved is a FLAMING HETEROSEXUAL, not that I'm insecure or anything.)